Unsettled Why clients of Epstein should not rest easy

After news of Prince Andrew’s settlement with his accuser Virginia Giuffre, the question of who or what the Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell sex -trafficking conspiracy will envelop next remains.

- Edward Helmore

New York attorneys believe it is unlikely any more will be said by the parties involved in Andrew’s case.

Attention will now return to a slew of other unfinished business stemming from the sex -trafficking ring run by the disgraced financier Epstein, his one-time girlfriend Maxwell and possibly others. Certainly the nature of the circles that Epstein moved in – powerful, elite, famous and wealthy – make continued interest by media and law enforcement inevitable.

But the release of the names of 16 “John Does” – in effect, potential clients of the conspiracy – that were redacted from depositions in Virginia Giuffre’s defamation lawsuit against Maxwell, which ultimately led to criminal charges against Maxwell and foreshadowed Guiffre’s claims against Prince Andrew, may initially produce little more than headlines.

Maxwell, who has been held at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan detention centre since her arrest in July 2020, has said she no longer wishes to fight the release of the men’s identities. “Generalised aversion to embarrassment and negativity … is not enough to warrant continued sealing of information,” Giuffre’s attorney Sigrid McCawley wrote to the court.